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The Influence of the International Community on Indigenous Rights in Australia

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The Influence of the International Community on Indigenous Rights in Australia Masaryk University Faculty of Social Studies Department of International Relations and European Studies Major: International Relations THE INFLUENCE OF THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY ON INDIGENOUS RIGHTS IN AUSTRALIA Masters thesis Bc. Alena Verbová Supervisor of Masters thesis: Hubert SMEKAL, Ph.D. UČO: 416575 Major: International Relations Imatriculation year: 2013 Brno 2015 Author: Bc. Alena Verbová Title of Masters: The Influence of the International Community on Indigenous Rights in Australia Title of Masters thesis: (in Czech) Vliv mezinárodní komunity na práva původních obyvatel v Austrálii Specialization: International Relations Supervisor: Hubert Smekal, Ph.D. Year of defense: 2015 Annotation The goal of this Masters thesis – The Influence of the International Community on Indigenous rights in Australia – is to examine the influence of the international environment on the Indigenous people of Australia. It scrutinizes the „Boomerang effect‟ theory, which argues that, when actors of one state cannot pursue their demands in their domestic government, they reach out to the international community, which can help them to meet their needs and apply pressure on the domestic government. The goal of this thesis is to investigate the validity of the Boomerang effect theory in the following three cases in Australia: the 1965 Freedom Ride; the Aboriginal Tent Embassy; and, the Northern Territory Intervention. Anotace (in Czech) Cílem této magisterské práce - Vliv mezinárodní komunity na práva původních obyvatel v Austrálii - je zkoumat vliv mezinárodního prostředí na práva původních obyvatel v Austrálii. Zabývá se teorií Bumerangového efektu, který argumentuje, že pokud obyvatelé ve svém státě nemohou dosáhnout svoje požadavky, obrací se na mezinárodní komunitu, která jim může pomoci dosáhnout jejich potřeby a aplikovat tlak na domácí vládu. Cílem této práce je zkoumat platnost teorie Boomerangového efektu na třech případech v Austrálii: the 1965 Freedom Ride, The Aboriginal Tent Embassy a intervence v Severním teritoriu v Austrálii. Keywords The Indigenous people of Australia and their rights, international influence, Boomerang effect. Klíčová slova (in Czech) Původní obyvatelé Austrálie a jejich práva, mezinárodní vliv, Bumerangový efekt. © Alena Verbová, Masaryk University, 2015 Acknowledgement First, I would like to thank my supervisor, Hubert Smekal, Ph.D., for his valuable recommendations and advice. Also, I would like to thank Professor Ravi de Costa for his input in terms of the framework of my thesis. Furthermore, I would like to thank all the participants who were willing to answer my questions, such as Gary Foley, Christopher Binge, Gary Binge, Ann Curthoys, Rex Wild, Alastair Nicholson and Julian Burnside. Many thanks go to my student advisor, Ruth Fluhr, for her help with academic writing in English. Moreover, a large debt of gratitude thanks to Aurin Green for his immense support, guidance, patience and insight. Last, but not least, I would like to thank my family, friends and partner for their encouragement. Contents 1. Introduction ........................................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Terminology .................................................................................................................................. 2 2 Research design...................................................................................................................... 5 3 History .................................................................................................................................. 10 3.1 Pre-colonisation period ............................................................................................................... 10 3.2 Colonisation Period ..................................................................................................................... 12 3.3 Post-colonisation Period ............................................................................................................. 16 4 Research cases ...................................................................................................................... 29 4.1 The Freedom Ride ....................................................................................................................... 29 4.2 The Aboriginal Tent Embassy .................................................................................................... 39 4.3 The Northern Territory Intervention ........................................................................................... 51 5 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................ 61 6 Bibliography ......................................................................................................................... 66 6.1 Primary sources: .......................................................................................................................... 66 6.2 Secondary sources: ...................................................................................................................... 69 7 Appendices: .......................................................................................................................... 73 7.1 Thoughts from a phone interview with Gary Binge. ................................................................... 73 7.2 Email responses .......................................................................................................................... 74 7.3 Personal interview with Gary Foley ............................................................................................ 81 7.4 Personal interview with Christopher Binge ................................................................................ 91 1. Introduction This thesis examines the influence of the international community on the rights of the Indigenous people of Australia. Specifically, it focuses on the power of international influence relating to human rights on domestic issues of Australia, specifically those regarding Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders. It scrutinizes the Boomerang theory, which argues that, when actors of one state cannot pursue their demands vis-a-vis their domestic government, they reach out to international bodies that can help them to meet their needs and put pressure on the domestic government. In order to scrutinize what constitutes the needs and rights that lead to the wellbeing of Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders, it is necessary to first scrutinize what the Indigenous people of Australia want. Both assimilation, on the one hand, and discrimination on the other, can lead to the suppression of indigenous rights. Thus the concept of integration, meaning to be included in society, while still keeping one‟s own indigenous rights to land, culture, self-determination and existence, can be a potentially promising concept for Indigenous wellbeing. Conflict between individuals and rights groups can arise over issues relating to indigenous rights. The paradox is that, with the human rights system introduced by the United Nations after the Second World War in 1945, mobilization of activism in support of indigenous rights was arising along with the liberal emphasis on individual rights. Thus the combination of the international human rights system, the civil rights movement around the world, specifically in the United States and South Africa, and the decolonization process triggered indigenous rights movements and in some cases, the formal acknowledgement of indigenous rights world-wide. The limitations that have slowed down the progress of the granting of indigenous rights are, among others, corporations demanding natural resources from land that belongs to indigenous peoples, as well as environmental and climate changes. However, cooperation between various governmental and non-governmental domestic, international bodies and Indigenous peoples of Australia does exist. The main question of this thesis is: how was Boomerang effect used in activism for Indigenous rights in Australia, and what were the results of the campaign and of the Boomerang effect? The following three important cases will be examined, chosen based on the literature and expert opinions – Freedom Ride 1965, Aboriginal Tent Embassy 1972, and Northern Intervention 2007 – and in each case, indicator questions will be discussed. These three cases were chosen because 1 of the following reasons: the first case, Freedom Ride, is taken into account because it received international attention that, however, led to only a few changes; the second case, the Aboriginal Tent Embassy, is examined because it attracted international attention, which put significant pressure on the Australian government, leading to significant changes within Australian legislation related to the indigenous rights of Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders; the third case, the Northern Territory Intervention, has been selected, because, although international pressure was brought to bear on the Australian government, no significant changes were made. Indicator questions will be applied to each case in order to answer the main question. Conclusions will be made according to the answers received to the indicator questions. The first chapter presents the research design. The second chapter scrutinizes the brief history of Australia. Australian history will be examined because of the parallel it provides that can be related
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